Report: Saquon Barkley threatening to sit out Week 1 versus Dallas Cowboys
With just five days left to complete negotiations for a long-term deal, Giants running back Saquon Barkley still isn’t budging. According to ESPN’s Dianna Russini, Barkley’s availability for Week 1 versus NFC East rivals the Dallas Cowboys is in jeopardy.
“Saquon Barkley has made it clear the franchise tag is undesirable,” Russini shared on Wednesday. “I’m told his availability for Week 1 against the Dallas Cowboys will be in serious question if he does not get a long-term deal from the Giants.”
In two games versus the Cowboys last season, he posted 81 yards and a touchdown, and 39 yards and a touchdown, respectively. He also added eight total catches for 58 more yards.
Barkley apparently has no intentions of signing the one-year franchise tag deal for $10.09 million. If threatening to miss a Week 1 game versus a divisional opponent isn’t enough, the running back has already said last month that a season-long holdout is something he may consider.
“I think that’s a conversation,” Barkley said of a season-long holdout, via NFL.com. “Like you said, that’s a card I could play. That comes up in conversation if something don’t get done by July 17. … We got a little bit of time in between there. When that date comes up, then I’ll have to sit down with my team, sit down with my family and make decisions. See what we’re going to do. What’s the next game plan? What’s the next move?”
Last season for the Giants, Barkley had 1,312 rushing yards and an additional 338 receiving yards. He was on a $7.2 million extension off of his rookie contract, which was for four years, $31.19 million.
As a rookie, he had 1,307 rushing yards, 721 receiving yards and 15 total touchdowns. It earned him Offensive Rookie of the Year for 2018.
Barkley: ‘You got until July 17’
At his youth football camp in Jersey City in June, Barkley clapped back at those who believe he is just being “greedy.”
“I’ve been public, I came out public and I’ve been open about it,” Barkley said. “I said, ‘I want to be a Giant for life.’ This is where I want to be, and at the end of the day, it’s all about respect. That’s really what it is.”
By making it clear to the Giants that he wants to sign a long-term deal, he puts pressure on the team to cave in negotiations.
However, New York can point to another former running back in the Big Apple, Le’Veon Bell, who held out for a season with the Jets and never returned to form, as a cautionary tale.
“I think when you sit back and you look at it, obviously there is the situation where it happened with Le’Veon, and some people say it didn’t work out for him or whatever,” Barkley said. “I think I would have to sit down and actually go through that whole process and think about that whole process when that situation comes up, if it comes up. For me, it’s like, you got until July 17.”
Although he hasn’t participated in team activities this offseason, the running back has maintained his peak fitness for the season. He recently posted a video of a workout that shows him squatting 585 pounds.